Pocketed jacket construction



.1963 A; v. COLANGELO 3,077,604

POCKETED JACKET con s'rauc'uon Filed Aug 8; 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 G Gn n IN VEN TOR. ALBERT V. COLANGELO A TTORNE Y Fqb. 19, 1963 A. v.COLANGELO 3,077,604

POCKETED JACKET CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8. 1960NVENTOR. ALBERT V. COLANGELO BY UZQIQQVH uxczzw ATTORNEY hits i ite Thepresent invention relates to garment constructions and particularly toan outergarrnent such as a coat, jacket or the like provided withpockets of improved convenience and usefulness.

One aspect of the invention is concerned with the specific pocketstructure, and another with the relationship of the pocket structure tothe adjacent portions of the garment. Both aspects are deemed to benovel in respects hereinafter to be pointed out and claimed, and bothcontribute to certain new modes of use as will be hereinafter explained.

A specific object of the invention and advantage of the new arrangementof parts is the provision of a pocket in the front side area of a jackettype garment, or-a pair of such pockets symmetrically arranged onopposite sides of the front center line of the garment, which willrender the pocket contents more readily accessible than the best priorart constructions of which I am aware and which will enable thewearer-of the garment to reach the contents instantly and unfailingly bynatural movements of the arms involving no awkwardness or discomfort andrequiring no projection of the elbows laterally out into possiblecontact with interfering objects, like the armrests of a seat, the sidewall of a vehicle, or the body of an adjacent person.

A specific embodiment of the invention which has been found in actualpractice to constitute an entirely satisfactory mode of practicing theinvention, and which accordingly is at present preferred, is given byway of example in the accompanying drawings forming part of thisapplication for Letters Patent. In these drawings,

FiGURE 1 is a perspective View of a jacket embodying the invention,illustrating one manner in which access is had to one of the pockets;

FIG. 2. is a similar view illustrating another manner in which access ishad to the same pocket;

FIG. 3 is a relatively enlarged front elevational view of the garment;

. FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a portion of the insideof the garment, showing particularly the inner surface of one of thepocket structures;

FIG. 5 is a similar view with certain of the layers or sheets ofcomponent fabric of the garment disconnected and opened up so as moreclearly to show the construction;

FIG. 6 is a still further enlarged detail view in elevation of theinside of the pocket structure, showing par ticularly the pocket-accessopening, with parts disconnected and opened up to show the arrangement;and

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG.5.

The broad principles of the invention, its purpose, objects andadvantages, are illustrated and it is believed can well be understoodfrom FIG. 3 and by a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2 and will now bediscussed and explained prior toentering into any detailed disclosure ofthe specific features of the preferred form of embodiment depicted inFIGS. 4-7.

FIG. 3 shows a jacket of generally well known construction having a pairof front panel portions 1 and 2 best made of some relatively heavy,durable fabric, or even of light leather, and preferably arranged forclosure along the front center line of the garment by a slide fastener3, although it is quite possible within the broad t Bhilhh i FaterateolFeb. 19, 1963 2 scope of the inventive concept to design the jacket witha side opening and/or with button, hook and eye or other closure means,since the invention resides in the pocket construction and arrangement.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, each of the front panel portions is provided witha pocket. This is the preferred design, although it would be quitepossible to limit the pocket arrangement to a single one, located inonly one of the front panels. The important point is that the pocket isat a side of the front center line of the garment, which in the presentinstance is defined by the teeth of the slide fastener 3, and that it isaccessible through an opening slit formed in the panel portion.Preferably these slits are elongated narrow openings 4, 5 as shown,provided with flaps 6, 7, integral with or made of the same material asthe panel, defined and formed by lines of stitching, in a well knownmanner. The slits and their flaps extend in a generally verticaldirection, with however a relatively slight inclination downwardly andoutwardly, and they are open to and penetrable from inner sides of theflaps, i.e., the flaps open along their edges which are adjacent thecenter line of the jacket and are closed along their edges which arenearer to the jacket sides, where the sleeves are located.

Each slit opens into a pocket which is formed of suitably installed plyof fabric sewed in place behind the sheet that forms the front panelportion. In FIGS. 1-3 these pockets are shown in broken lines and aredesignated 8 and 9 respectively. They are large and capacious, as iscustomary in jackets of the type shown, and each extends appreciablybelow the bottom of its access opening or slit.

FIG. 1 illustrates how the right hand of the wearer is inserted into thepocket on the right hand side of the garment. It will be noted that theforearm is angled acutely with the upper arm and that the elbowprotrudes considerably out to the right side. FIG. 2 shows how this sameright hand pocket is reached by the left hand of the wearer. It will heobserved that the upper arm and forearm angle is no greater than a rightangle and that the elbow does not protrude outwardly substantiallybeyond the vertical plane of the shoulder.

It is believed to be obvious that the FIG. 2 position of the wearer ofthe jacket is preferable to that of PEG. 1 as being less awkward andinvolving less discomfort, and as being more easily assumed undercertain circumstances involving what may be called crowded conditions,as for example in situations where the wearer is seated close to theside wall of a vehicle, or in a chair having high armrests narrowlyspaced apart, or is seated on a crowded bench in a thronged stadium orthe like, is standing in a crowd, or in any one of many other familiarsituations. Under such conditions each pocket is conveniently accessibleby insertion of the opposite hand. indeed, both pockets are accessiblesimultaneously by simply folding both arms across the abdomen andintroducing the right hand into the left pocket and the left hand intothe right pocket. The overall width occupied by the wearer in thisposition is actually less than that required when his arms hangnaturally at his side, and the position involves no inconvenience,strain or discomfort of any kind.

But it will be observed that when the pockets are penetrated in themanner shown in FlG. 2, by the hand on the opposite side of the garment,the hand naturally extends into the far side of the pocket, i.e., intowhat may be called the outer side, remote from the garment center line.Pocket contents in the outer side of the pocket are thus readilyreached. However, articles resting in the inner side of the pocket, downin the inner corner of the pocket bottom, can be reached only withconsiderable difi'iculty, involving distortion of the pocket and jacketmaterial and some contortion of the arm and hand. As a practical matter,access to this inner corner of the pocket requires use of the otherhand, the hand on that side, inserted as shown in FIG. 1. This, it willbe understood, is true of the prior art, in which the pocket structureis made in the conventional way, and constitutes a defect, disadvantageand objection that is eliminated by the present invention by reason ofthe new feature of construction that will now be described.

This feature comprises dividing the pocket bottom, or the lower ,zone ofthe pocket interior, into two side by side compartments or cavities, asshown at 10', 11 in the pocket 8 and at 12, 13 in the pocket 9. This isreadily accomplished by such means as the lines of stitching 14, 15extending upwardly from the bottom of the respective pockets toward andsubstantially to the bottom of each slit opening.

By reason of this division of each pocket into two parts or pocketcavities, articles can ;be confined to the-outer cavities 1t} and 13 andbe kept in these cavities for ready availability to the hand beinginserted from the other side, as shown in FIG. 2. The "wearer soonacquires the habit of putting into these cavities '10 and 13 sucharticles as he maywant to remove relatively often, e.g., cigarettes andmatches, smallchange, and the like. Articles in less demand for removal,such perhaps as a house key, a card case, a pen knife, etc., will bekept in the cavities 11, 12.

The structural arrangements depicted in FIGS. 1-3 are attainable invarious ways, as will be understood, within the broad principles of theinvention. However, the invention proposes certain specific details thathave been incorporated to advantage in the commercial embodiment, andthese are made the subject of the more specific claims and will now bedescribed.

FIGS. 4-7 illustrate the right hand front panel, designated 1 in .FiGS.l-3, as viewed from the inside, with various parts of the structuredisconnected, opened up and pulled back. The left hand front panel, itwill be understood, is similar in construction and arrangement. In FIGS.47, the relatively heavy outer fabric 2b of the jacket panel 1 is cut,without removal of any material, and folded back to provide theelongated, slightly upwardly and inwardly (centrally) inclined oblongslot 21.

The cut material is hemmed as at 22, 22, over an interposed lining strip23 of light material that is cut and opened up, like the sheet 26, asbest shown. in FIG. 6. Folded fiap members 24, 25, of the same material2 as the panel 1 are stitched at 26, 27 to sheets 23, 29, respectively,of thin or light material like the material 23, and, with the flapmembers suitably set in overlapping relation over the slot 21, thestitching 3% is run completely around the slot, in oblong design, to fixthe flaps and the sheets 23, 29 in position, with the flaps overlappedand closing the slot, and with the flap 25 outermost so that the closedslot has now become a slit that is readily penetrated by a hand movingoutwardly, i.e., from the center line of the garment outwardly towardthe side of the front panel, as will be clear from a comparison of FIGS.2 and 3 with PEG. 7.

A main pocket-forming sheet 35 of large, generally rectangular or squareshape is now laid over the assembly thus far completed and is sewed inplace by a marginal line of stitching 36, preferably supplemented andreinforced along one or both of the two vertical sides by lines ofstitching 37.

It is this sheet 35 that cooperates with the material 29 of the panel toconstitute the pocket 8, and an important feature of the invention, itwill be recalled, is the intro.- duction of a partition or division 14into the pocket separating it into two parts or cavities 1t), 11. Thisis readily formed by running the line of stitching 36 upwardly a shortdistance from about themid point of its bottom line, as shown in FIG. 4.Specifically, the stitching is run up and then turned over and down, asshown, thus forming a strong partition or division made up of the twoparallel lines of stitching designated 40 in FIG. 4. The arrangement isbest made such that the partition 14 extends up nearly to the bottom runof the slot-surrounding stitching 3t It will be recognized thatthepocket construction is novel in itself in certain respects pointedout by the appended claims, and is novel in relationship to theremainder of the garment and also, in thepreferred embodiment, in therelationship of the two pockets to each other, and that it is immaterialto the principles of the in.- vention whether the pocket beprefabricated and installed in the prepared panel of an otherwisegenerally finished garment or be set up ply by ply ofmaterial as thegarment is made. "It will be noted that the arrangement. of the severalplies of material forming the pocket lends itself to prefabrication andsubsequent installation, which is a feature of importance in thecommercialproduction of the garment in quantity.

The arrangement illustrated by FIGS. .4-7 and particularly described inthe foregoing specification is preferred because it has been found-to beeasily produced in actual commercial practice and to embody theprinciples of the invention in a most practical and satisfactory construction. However, the basic principles of the invention can beembodied otherwise, within the spirit of the the invention and thescope.ofrthe more broadly worded of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A jacket having a pair .of sleeves and a .pair of exterior panelportions each extending from a side edgedirectly beneath one of saidsleeves to .a front edge coinciding with the front center line .of thejacket whereby each panel portion constitutes a front quarter portion ofthe jacket, a pocket in each of said portions underlying the major. partof the area between said edges of the portion, and an access opening inthe form of a narrow .slit having parallel side edges provided in eachpanel portion in communication with the adjacent pocket and extending ina generally vertical direction substantially midway of said area fromnear the top of said pocket toward the bottom thereof, said pockethaving ,a partition extending from the bottom of the pocket up tosubstantially the bottom of said opening, thereby dividing the pocketinto two parts, one on each .side ofthe opening.

2. A jacket as claimed in claim 1, in which each of said access openingsis inclined downwardly ,away from the front center line of the jacket.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,089,203 Forman Mar. 3, 1914 2,236,694 Oppenheimer "Apr. 1, 1941 2,476,665 Jones July 19, 1949 2,614,258 "Breier Oct.'2l, 1952 2,790,178Bertneskie Apr. 30, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,999 Great Britain May 21,1912

1. A JACKET HAVING A PAIR OF SLEEVES AND A PAIR OF EXTERIOR PANELPORTIONS EACH EXTENDING FROM A SIDE EDGE DIRECTLY BENEATH ONE OF SAIDSLEEVES TO A FRONT EDGE COINCIDING WITH THE FRONT CENTER LINE OF THEJACKET WHEREBY EACH PANEL PORTION CONSTITUTES A FRONT QUARTER PORTION OFTHE JACKET, A POCKET IN EACH OF SAID PORTIONS UNDERLYING THE MAJOR PARTOF THE AREA BETWEEN SAID EDGES OF THE PORTION, AND AN ACCESS OPENING INTHE FORM OF A NARROW SLIT HAVING PARALLEL SIDE EDGES PROVIDED IN EACHPANEL PORTION IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE ADJACENT POCKET AND EXTENDING INA GENERALLY VERTICAL DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY MIDWAY OF SAID AREA FROMNEAR THE TOP OF SAID POCKET TOWARD THE BOTTOM THEREOF, SAID POCKETHAVING A PARTITION EXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE POCKET UP TOSUBSTANTIALLY THE BOTTOM OF SAID OPENING, THEREBY DIVIDING THE POCKETINTO TWO PARTS, ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE OPENING.